Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Gosh, it has been years and years since I have tie dyed anything! Until yesterday...

I got the kids excited to tie dye. Then headed out to the store to pick up the necessary supplies- shirts, dyes, and rubber bands. Then came home and washed the shirts and got everything set up. Sure the kids were excited, but they couldn't wrap the rubber bands and didn't understand the rubber banding process. So my mom and I did all the shirts. Then they couldn't help mixing the dye (because they are reckless kids). So my mom and I did that part, too. But they got to help drop the shirts into the buckets and stir them in the buckets for about 15 minutes. They only half-enjoyed that part. So my mom and I just finished it all up. We rinsed and cut rubber bands. Then washed and dried everything. But everyone ooohed and aaahed over the finished products. I will try and get some pictures of everyone wearing their creations. Today I had a swollen eye (gross and weird) so I have been trying to fix that all day. By dinner time I was able to see out of it again. Apparently it is some strange allergic reaction to something. Who knows! I am just glad it is getting better. I had to walk in the urgent care with sunglasses on so people wouldn't get grossed out. They probably thought I got in a fight.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Even though it is summer, I still like to keep my kids learning. They made such great progress last year in school, especially near the end of the school year, and I would hate to see them lose any of it. So I am really trying to entice them into learning and reading by using topics they are interested in at the present moment.

Last week was all.about.weather. My kids are fascinated with weather. Maybe that is because we have such big weather in OK. Big winds, big hail, big tornadoes, big rain, and big hot sun!

The website I was using is called Fun4Kids. She had book suggestions and crafts. It is wonderful!

We made the cloud craft with the cotton balls...except we used paper plates and I didn't have cotton balls. We used polyester stuffing because I had tons of it.

The kids loved the craft. Plenty of gluing going on!

Today we are visiting family out of state. We have spent the last three days in the car so the kids are outside running around. It is great to stay put for a few days, at least! I will post again on Wednesday and show you what we are up to!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Have you noticed that every once in a while my blog appears different?

ugh!

old banner

You'll learn that I have a hard time making my mind up! But for now, I think I am at peace with this new color scheme and "design" (if you can call it that...because I made it up).

So what is new? Well mostly everything...

Like I have a background which I made in PSE

These new sidebar headers ------->

New header (made that too in PSE)

The lines of text are closer together

Random post gadget added on my sidebar

Went back to a 2-column blog (from 3-column)

and no, I still can't seem to get my photos to be a size that I am happy with!

If you have any questions about any blog design let me know and I will do a Q and A post. I have tweaked this Blogger template all by myself. And I have a few more things I need to redo. But I am learning a lot- which was one of my goals of starting a blog. But everything you see, I have done so I could walk you through if you needed some help.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

At least when I looked. My grill towel is under new Father's Day ideas, here. Now I am not "featured" or anything. Just my tutorial is listed under the Father's Day ideas. Which to me, is pretty darn awesome!

I was first most popular for the day (could have just been good timing)-- but whatever, I am thrilled. It is tough to devote time to my blog and not have an audience to read it. I know that is all part of the growing process. Oh I know.

But small blurbs like this put me on cloud 9!

I had submitted this tutorial and just hoped it would be listed! Tip Junkie is the most complete creativity/craft blog that I know. She has endless resources for anything you can think of! I am stopping by now for Fourth of July crafts and ideas. My youngest will be 2 on July 4th. So I need party decorations, recipes, everything red-white-blue themed!

And get THIS...I just saw today that there is an app for Tip Junkie! WHOA! I love it!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Have you seen these shoes? They are boring white tennis shoes dyed into awesome! A gal named Katy at Sweet Verbena made them and I love them! She even posted a tutorial on how to make them. I think they have been everywhere on every blog. All the cool crafters are drooling over them. And Me too! And I really would have already made them but I can't go shopping with my kids (see yesterday's post) and I can't go shopping without them. So I don't have any shoes to dye. But I will! And when I do...they will be this cool!

Next, I really, really need to add this to my Craft Bucket List and I really, really need to make them soon. Like, before I need to buy another package of swim diapers! Right now I am using some leftover swim diapers from my daughter (who has been potty trained for about 2 yrs) and my neighbor who is 6. I know. They are old diapers but they are doing the job. If I thought I had a handle on when my almost-2-yr-old was going to do a number 2 I would just wait and go swimming after it happened. But since I don't and since I don't want to clean up a "code brown" in the pool (really don't want to add that to my day) then I need the swim diapers. It just seems so silly to buy them now when we are cloth diapering, too. So with about 12 swim diapers left, I need to get a move on with this project here:

Monday, June 13, 2011

Last week was our "Manners Week" and I can't even begin to tell you what an improvement I have already seen in their manners. Did you know that (until last week) my kids are out to humiliate me in public by behaving like wild animals dressed in kids clothing? Well, they typically do. I get all the stares. I am so embarrassed.

Last week, I was actually able to take them, without embarrassment, up the street to this adorable little bakery for a fancy cupcake. I was nervous because the cupcakes were served on real plates- you know, breakable ones! I wasn't sure if my kids could handle it. But they did alright. Nothing broke. My son even asked for some napkins in a polite way. And, not wanting to press my luck, as soon as the cupcakes were devoured I rounded the four of us up and left before anything did break.

As you can see, the little one decided to scribble all over it!

Even though we were reading about manners and discussing manners last week, I think the real reason for their turnaround has been our manners chart. Complete with incentives. aka rewards. OK, bribes...whatever, it is working!

You see, my older two kids are always asking to eat at a restaurant. I don't like to because it ends up being an embarrassing disaster. Nobody listens. Kids everywhere. I would rather just avoid it right now. So during their last week of school I started a star reward chart. They can earn a trip to a restaurant (of their choice) by having good manners at dinner. It was an instant turnaround! Now, they are not perfect. But improvements I have seen are: not yelling, not playing peek-a-boo with the baby, sitting up straight in seat, using napkins, asking to be excused from the table...just to list a few. Funny thing is, these are not "new" concepts for them. We have been teaching them table manners from day one! But for some reason, they have slipped and I don't think an occasional trip to Chuck E. Cheese will hurt anyone. That is where we went this week. Their manners even continued there. I really could gush all day about them, but who wants to hear that? I am just so proud of them. And glad I finally found something that is working around here. Maybe a Good-Manners-for-a-Restaurant bribe reward chart will help you too.

Friday, June 10, 2011

...Have you see the other 4 grill towels I posted earlier this week?...

Now this one, I was CRAZY about! I love it! It was actually the first one I made. But it was not as much my husband's taste. And I really thought I had nailed it. He said this one was a bit too colorful. Really? What I think, is that to him, the blue and orange are team colors of a sports team or something. He thinks in sports.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Now this one actually was my husband's favorite one. It had all of his favorite colors- blue and blue, oh and grey.

On Monday, I posted a tutorial on how to make a grill towel and everyday this week I am posting variations of the first. I know this is a gift husband would use because he always needs to wipe his hands off when he is out there grilling. It could be raw meat on his hands, BBQ sauce, something fell, who knows.

I wanted to share with you all of my iterations of the Grillin' Towel because...1) I never come up with a good man-craft idea...and 2)I finally found a man-craft idea that my husband actually likes! I don't know. Maybe you have the same man-craft block that I do. Anyway...

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About Me

Hi there! I'm Kate- a wife and mom of three energetic kids! Thanks so much for stopping by my little blog- it is a thrill for me that you are even here! I love DIY, sewing, crafting. Craft Whatever is my spot to share any of these attempts with you! Don't forget to leave a comment so I can say hi back!

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